Arts and Humanities Commons^™

“Perfect Hearts And Pure Pages”: The Transmission And Recitation Of The Qur’An In Mamluk Cairo—The Shāṭibiyya As A Case Study, Jonathan Hearn

Theses and Dissertations

The Ḥirz al-Amānī wa-Wajh al-Tahānī of Abū al-Qāsim b. Fīrruh al-Shāṭibī (d. 590/1193) became one of the most widely studied texts associated with the recitation of the Qur’an. A didactic versification of Abū ʿAmr al-Dānī’s (d. 444/1053) Kitāb al-Taysīr fī al-Qirāʾāt al-Sabaʿ, the Shāṭibiyya was composed in Ayyubid Egypt and transformed the discipline of the variant readings (qirāʾāt). Despite its popularity and acknowledged impact upon the discipline, the Shāṭibiyya remains a relatively untapped resource for understanding the Qur’an in its recited form. This thesis studies the recitation of the Qur’an in Mamluk Cairo through the Shāṭibiyya, …

Exploring The Role Of Religious Media In Shaping Public Perceptions Towards Climate Change In Egypt, Hebatullah Ashour Abdel Fatah Ibrahim Ashour

Theses and Dissertations

Climate change poses significant threats globally, with particular vulnerability noted in developing nations like Egypt. While effective communication is crucial for societal engagement, the role of influential actors like religious media within specific cultural contexts remains under-explored. This thesis investigates the role and communication practices of religious media (Islamic and Coptic Christian) concerning climate change in Egypt, a country where religious institutions command significant public trust and influence. Existing literature highlights gaps in understanding how these specific media outlets navigate and frame climate change discourse.

Employing Framing Theory and Communication for Development (DevCom) Theory as a combined framework, this study …

Paradise Lost Thrice: Exile And The Abrahamic Religions In Aciman, Werfel, And Ashour, Malak K. Hosny

Theses and Dissertations

Exile is an integral part of the history of all three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This thesis compares between literary narratives of the exile of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. It explores the notion that having been exiled from Eden with the fall of Adam and Eve, and having each religion’s prophet’s story intrinsically tied with exile, the believers’ exile is then the third in a layered cycle of exile. Having lost the paradise, believers tend to search for earthly paradises that they attach themselves to, and then tragically lose those as well. The thesis’ three primary literary texts …

Implications Of The Mind’S Active Participation In The Formation Of Perception, Maikel Adel Samy Michael

Theses and Dissertations

The mind-body problem, particularly the issue of qualia, remains a fundamental challenge in understanding the nature of the mind and its relation to the body. In this thesis I argue that the problem is epistemic, stemming from how we perceive and know ourselves as physical and mental beings. This argument will be explored through the respective of idealisms proposed by George Berkeley and Immanuel Kant. Berkeley's idealism suggests that reality is rooted in perception, offering a major steppingstone by demonstrating the major role perception plays in understanding and acquiring knowledge. Kant contributes by asserting that the "thing-in-itself" is beyond our …

The Craft Of Tally: Tracing Marketability And Economic Sustainability Of Crafts, Mariam Mabrouk

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the marketability and economic sustainability of the Tally craft in Gezeirit

Shandaweel, Sohag, Egypt, with a focus on how the craft navigates the tension between cultural

preservation and economic adaptation. Tally, a traditional form of embroidery, has deep cultural

roots in Egypt but faces significant challenges due to global market dynamics, shifting consumer

preferences, and systemic institutional neglect. Through an ethnographic case study, this research

investigates how artisans, institutions, and market forces interact to shape the craft's future. The

study examines the role of cultural perceptions, innovation, and institutional support in fostering

or hindering Tally's economic viability. …

The Communal Lyric: Poetry In Devotional And Oppressed Communities, Michael N. Yacoub

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the interaction between lyric and community; it asks what a communal lyric is, how it functions, and to what ends. In Chapter One, I compare Jonathan Culler’s performative model of lyric with the theory of Takhyīl as expounded by Arab philosopher-critics al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, and al-Qartajanni to argue that a communal lyric is a form of audience-oriented public discourse distinguished by formal features that prompt the poem’s (re-)iteration and establish an interpersonal relationship with the audience in order to influence them and make shareable value claims about the world. In Chapters Two and Three I provide close-reading …

Elite Cohesion And Its Historical Sources: Analyzing Its Impact On Democratization In Nigeria And Botswana, Aliaa Magdy Aboutera

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the divergent democratization trajectories of Botswana and Nigeria, focusing on the role of colonial legacies and post-colonial elites in shaping elite cohesion. While both countries experienced British colonial rule, their transitions to democracy in the post-independence period have differed significantly. This study argues that elite cohesion, although insufficient on its own, is a critical facilitating factor in democratic consolidation that warrants greater attention in the democratization literature. This cohesion is largely shaped by the sociology of political elites, with historical contexts influencing how elites organize. Through process tracing, the thesis argues that colonialism in Botswana did not …

Negotiating The Canon: Arab Women Romantic Poets Jamila Al-ʿAlayli And Zahra Al-Hurr, Osama Amer

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the engagement of two Arab romantic women poets, Jamila al-ʿAlayli and Zahra al-Hurr, with the Arabic literary canon, focusing on how they negotiated their positions within the canon. Despite being active contributors to the Arabic romantic movement, their works remain overlooked in literary histories and anthologies. The study explores the modes of canonization, such as gender essentialism, exceptionalism, and socio-political engagement, by which the canon operates. Through a feminist lens, this research analyzes selected poems, autobiographical texts, articles, interviews, and critical writings by both poets, highlighting their distinct strategies for challenging and reshaping their literary status. Al-ʿAlayli …

Preserving The Past: Creating And Keeping An Archive Of The History Of Park Hill Baptist Church In North Little Rock, Arkansas, Jessica Ann Gates

Theses and Dissertations

An archive serves as a custodian of history, preserving materials such as records, documents, and objects that offer insight into people, organizations, and places. Park Hill Baptist Church, located in North Little Rock, Arkansas, was founded in 1947 and celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2022. This paper explores the process of creating a well-organized archive to transform the church's cluttered History Room into a valuable resource. Starting with minimal knowledge of archival practices, I conducted research on how to organize, preserve, and make accessible historical materials, including decisions on what to keep, why it matters, and how to ensure its …

Modeling The Mark 26 Guided Missile Launching System: Exploring Its Role In U.S. Naval Doctrine In The Late Cold War, Ryan Matthew Cabico

Theses and Dissertations

The Mark 26 Guided Missile Launch System was an innovative and modular upgrade from previous systems for the United States Navy at a critical development point during the Cold War. Its incorporation into the Virginia-Class, especially the USS Arkansas, exemplified the rapidly evolving scope and demands of naval warfare in the modern era, and the requirements of individual vessels and component parts of the Navy to fulfill U.S. naval doctrine in this era. This same rapid evolution in technology and the global political landscape would ultimately seal the fate of the Mark 26 and USS Arkansas, with their designed innovations …

Musnad ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Al-Zubayr Al-Ḥumaydī As An Early Source Of Madanī Isnād: A Source Critical Study, Heba Mohamed Gaafar

Theses and Dissertations

The transmission of ḥadīth has been a subject of intense debate, particularly regarding the authenticity of early compilations. Musnad al-Ḥumaydī is a ḥadīth collection that has not received significant scholarly attention despite its potential to shed light on early ḥadīth transmission. This study critically examines Musnad al-Ḥumaydī by analyzing its structure, sources, and methodology, focusing on its relationship with Sufyān b. ʿUyayna, the primary transmitter of its ḥadīth. By applying isnād analysis and source criticism, this research challenges the assumption that early ḥadīth compilations were unreliable or retrospectively constructed. Al-Ḥumaydī did not simply collect narrations. The study demonstrates that Musnad …

Poetries Of Abandonment: A Study Of Plath And Glück, Yara Abdelmoneim

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the intersection between literature and trauma, which can be discerned in the key works of two poets, Sylvia Plath and Louise Glück. While offering readings of crucial poems, the thesis also examines the interrelations among trauma, memory and narrative as theorized by two contemporary psychiatrists, Bessel van der Kolk and Judith Herman. Both Plath and Glück wrote about personal and generational trauma after going through different experiences of abandonment. Absence, indirection and repetition provide the basis for literary techniques that allow their traumas to be better understood by authors and readers alike. The degree to which each …

Commercial Pressures And Editorial Independence: Egyptian Journalists' Perceptions Of Advertiser Influence In Contemporary Media, Mohamed Ahmed Salem

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the complex interplay between commercial imperatives and editorial autonomy in Egypt’s contemporary media landscape, focusing on journalists’ perceptions of advertising influence. Drawing on Cognitive Dissonance Theory (CDT) and informed by Political Economy and Institutional Theory, the study investigates how Egyptian journalists navigate ethical tensions arising from advertiser demands—both state-linked and private—within a hybrid media system marked by economic precarity, political control, and digital disruption. Through 20 in-depth interviews with journalists, alongside insights from PR professionals, media managers, and academic experts, the research reveals a pervasive erosion of the editorial-commercial boundary. Journalists report widespread self-censorship, blurred content labelling, …

A Cloud Of Witnesses: Captivity Among The Society People Of Colonial Pennsylvania, Jenifer L. Ishee

Theses and Dissertations

In 1760, Jean McCord Lowry published a journal detailing her three years of captivity among the Delawares of Pennsylvania and the French Catholic authorities in New France during the Seven Years’ War. Lowry was a member of a religious community known as the Society People that strictly adhered to the codes, rules, and ordinances of the Scottish National Covenant of 1638 and the Solemn League and Covenant of 1643. This sect emerged from a series of European imperial conflicts that led to internal divisions within the Covenanter community. The Society People in Scotland, Ireland, and colonial America believed themselves the …

Shifting Sands: Moving From Reality To Unreality, Aaron Waterson

Theses and Dissertations

This is a series of stories that shifts from literary fiction to science fiction, each with their own inspiration and message. Inspirations include The Twilight Zone, Benjamin Percy, Da-Lin, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The Sandman, and Endymion. Each of these stories is conversant with norms and traditions of storytelling and the connections between these and their inspirations are elaborated on in the Introduction that accompanies the collection as a whole.

Langston Hughes And The “Afro-American Narrative” Tradition, Paul Haynes

Theses and Dissertations

After introducing Langston Hughes and defining Robert B. Stepto’s “Afro-American narrative” tradition, Chapter One presents a biography of Hughes from his birth in 1902 until he came under the patronage of Charlotte Osgood Mason in 1927. Chapter One also addresses the aesthetic expectations of the Harlem Renaissance and the extent to which Hughes either met or failed to meet those expectations. Chapter Two presents a reading of Not without Laughter as an integrated narrative, addressing how Hughes’s authenticating strategies and Mason’s authenticating devices evenly control the novel. Chapter Three presents a reading of Hughes’s short-story cycle, The Ways of White …

"Cultural Identity And Economic Challenges": The Socio-Economic Impact Of The Texas Kickapoo Reservation In The South Texas Borderlands, Diana P. Medina-Rendon

Theses and Dissertations

The Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas holds a significant place in Texas history. Facing conflicts with other tribes and experiencing broken treaties with the United States government, the Kickapoo slowly migrated from the Great Lakes region in the 16th century to the Midwest, then to the South, and into northern Mexico. Along the way, the Kickapoo encountered the French, British, Spanish, Americans, Texans, and Mexicans. They became involved in historical events such as the French and Indian War, the Battle of Tippecanoe, the War of 1812, the Battle Creek Massacre of 1838, and the Battle of Dove Creek of 1865. …

Voices In The Borderlands: Reimagining Identity, Cultural Belonging, And Dystopian Spaces In Anzaldúa’S Borderlands And Viramontes’S “The Cariboo Café”, Oralia G. Ramos

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La Frontera (1987) and Helena María Viramontes’ short story “The Cariboo Café” (1985) portray marginalized individuals navigating liminal spaces of identity, oppression, and survival. Borderlands/La Frontera and “The Cariboo Café” show how systematic violence and displacement shatter the self, pushing characters to navigate trauma in a dystopian space. Sonya, Macky, the café owner, and the grieving mother represent Anzaldúa’s concepts of borderland subjectivity, betrayal, and spectral haunting.

Sonya and Macky, two undocumented children, represent Anzaldúa’s borderlands subjects and reside in a state of nepantla, an in-between space of cultural dislocation. The café owner …

‘Good Old John Decker’: Confronting Entrepreneurial Challenges In The Mid-Nineteenth Century Rio Grande Borderlands, Grace C. Maciel

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

'Good Old John Decker': Confronting Entrepreneurial Challenges In The Mid-Nineteenth Century Rio Grande Borderlands (May 2025)

Grace C. Maciel, M.A., Texas A&M International University

Chair of Committee: Dr. Jerry Thompson

This thesis presents the first scholarly study of John Decker, a French-born immigrant whose rise as a merchant and civic figure in the 19th-century U.S.–Mexico borderlands offers a compelling case of adaptability, resilience, and immigrant success. Settling in Rio Grande City and Camargo, Tamaulipas, Decker built a lasting presence during a period marked by regional volatility, navigating war, revolution, and economic transformation. His story is explored across five chapters, …

Fan Art, Jacob Lay

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the work of artists like Vincent van Gogh, Donald Baechelor, and Cezanne in their relationship to my work and contemporary painting. Drawing from personal letters, interviews, and essays on these artists, the paper places painting and drawing from the thesis exhibition in a history as well as relates them to current pop culture relics. The paper also includes a process-based analyses of how each painting is made and with what materials.

Garden Of Fragments, Justin Muegge

Theses and Dissertations

Justin Muegge's paintings take the aesthetic experience of garden spaces as a vehicle to explore abstraction. Referencing his research in traditional Chinese Scholar's Gardens, Muegge explores the conceptual premises of their design philosophies, raises questions on the history of abstraction and his own work, and expands upon themes in his painting.

Ignite, Morgan A. Mcguire

Theses and Dissertations

Ana, a perfect, popular star student and cheerleader, starts questioning the essence of her life. She finds a glitter-covered apparition, a Christian Youth Group, and a murky new friendship. Set against the omnipresent patriarchy of the early Oughts, Ignite explores the harsh realities of girlhood and growing up.

Realistik Heaven, Alexa H. Senan

Theses and Dissertations

“Realistik Heaven” processes the traumas, forced transformations and the cannibalization of womanhood and culture as a result of colonization. Inspired by Oswald de Andrade’s Cannibalist Manifesto, Senan writes to evoke the literal meaning of Andrade’s description of the cannibalization of culture and having to become someone new cannibalizing themselves while still longing for the remains of the past.

Records In Space, Anthony Torrano

Theses and Dissertations

I am interested in how the process of layering has the capacity to mimic layers of history. History is a fraught concept, subject to changes with the passage of time, hierarchies in dissemination, and differing memories. Its precarity leaves some stories immortalized and some forgotten. The acts of recording, erasing, and rerecording in my work are a mediation on this liminality.

All Ego Must Die, Meredith Bakke

Theses and Dissertations

Using plasticity as a central framework, this thesis explores painting as a site for radical transformation of the self. Through symbolic engagement with sadism, ego death, and material play, it investigates how fantasy, fear, and imagination coalesce into a generative force—one that dismantles rigidity and opens space for discovery.

Cuentos De Barro, Daniel Anthony Vasquez

Theses and Dissertations

Cuentos de Barros addresses the complexities of creating art and processing indigenous heritage and personal history as a Salvadoran immigrant within a neo-colonial society. Centering ritual, care, and healing, the artist imbues sculptures with tenderness using abstract forms and the tactile manipulation of unfired clay and graphite.

Clod & Pebble, Ian Myers

Theses and Dissertations

What does Painting— its act, like a search; or material— have to do with truth? Probably nothing. Or what does it matter, or why ask? To Paint is to dig— deep! wide! to excavate! but in a busy park, and— now, look! you’ve ruined the softball game. Using the material conventions of early Christian icon painting— rabbit-skin gesso, viscous egg medium suspending ground pigments— the layers of my paintings accumulate like sediment. The surface is dredged, scraped back, leaving striations like stone and refined in search of light; space; revelation! or, piled high again, over and over.

Ontological Exhaustion And Metabolic Affect, Katelyn Reece Farstad

Theses and Dissertations

Ontological Exhaustion and Metabolic Affect explores the artistic practice of Katelyn Reece Farstad through the logic, physiology, and spiritual symbolism of the housefly. This body of work draws from personal experience with neurological trauma, mapping how perception fractures, reorients, and reforms in the wake of psychic rupture. The housefly—erratic, hyper-attuned, maligned—becomes both method and metaphor. Its larval state mirrors the latency of neuroplastic healing; its compound vision reflects perceptual multiplicity; its obsessive return to sites of decay parallels the recursive nature of memory and loss.

Working across sculpture and painting, I metabolize found objects and sensory residues into forms that …

Inheriting America, Emily Wichtrich

Theses and Dissertations

Fine Arts thesis on Christianity and the United States.

Stitch Theory, Brittany Adeline Adama King

Theses and Dissertations

This paper weaves personal history together using “stitched” citational text, supporting the concept that an archive can function as support, as worn; as garment.